2013 . A Year in Review

January 20, 2014

This past year was big. Not only was I able to work with amazing couples on a weekly basis, but I found a medium that has helped me find solace in a bustling industry. As artists, we are always trying to satisfy our creative process, all the while trying to reach an end product we’re pleased with. I took a major step forward toward this in 2013 when I started to incorporate film into my shooting process.

I’ve always admired film and the look one can achieve with it. In fact, I’ve spent four years attempting to make my digital work look like film. In the beginning of 2013 I was in a rut as an artist. It happens to everyone. I love my job. It’s right up there with the things I love the most in my life. But doing the same thing week in and week out can wear on you, and that is where I found myself. I began to look for something to spark my love affair with photography again. I’ve had an interest in film for a while now, and I took this slump as a chance to experiment with the medium. I was lucky enough to have a friend lend me her Contax 645 for the weekend, so I took the opportunity and ran with it. While not completely confident, I had studied enough about film to feel comfortable. I took a chance and brought it to my next wedding. Now, it might have been the smell of the northern woods, the couples overflowing love for eachother, or the fact that I was surrounded by friends, but I’ll never forget that wedding day. Capturing that wedding through the viewfinder of a film camera was invigorating. The depth and emotion I was able to see and feel was palpable. I hadn’t experienced this kind of passion as an artist and it excited me. In fact, it was exactly what I was looking for. I knew I would love the end product of the film I shot, but what blew me away was how much I enjoyed the shooting process. Using equipment that doesn’t rely on technology, being limited to 10-16 images on a roll of film, having to take time to share and talk with my couples as I reload film, and having to perfect everything about an image before I even take the shot really spoke to me. This is what my process was missing. This is how I want to document my clients.

I wanted to shoot again. I wanted to try different cameras, to experiment. I craved to just look through that viewfinder again.

I found my solace.

Photographers: I implore you to experiment as an artist. It doesn’t have to be film, but try different cameras, lenses, etc. Using tools that inspire you will make a difference and help you create images that you are most proud of. While film has become a huge part of my work, I still use other mediums (digital) to help document my couples and their weddings. No medium is better than the other. They all have their time and place.

A huge thank you to all of my couples that allow me into your world, I can’t do this without you!

Here’s a collection of my favorite images from 2013.

A majority of these images were captured on a Contax 645. Intermixed with Pentax 67, Hasselblad 500cm, Canon AE-1, Fuji Pro X-100, and Canon 5D3.